Category: ARCore

Google has begun rolling out the latest update to ARCore for Android, the system level app that brings Augmented Reality to your devices. The new update is version 1.4.180716066 for those keeping score at home. The update brings support for the upcoming Google Pixel 3, codename Blueline, as well as the Pixel 3 XL, codename Crosshatch. Given that the AR Core app is updated every 4-6 weeks and that this is the first reference to the new Pixels, it likely means that we getting close to launch.

Having the two new Pixel 3’s in the mix isn’t surprising but there was a surprise in that the first Chromebook is now listed as supporting ARCore. That is the new Acer Chromebook Tab 10.

If there is any doubt that the growth of Chrome OS is going beyond simply being another OS alternative, spend some time in the Chrome OS commit Gerrit and you will see that the plans are big for the platform. The latest proofpoint? This commit.

It seems that ARCore, the Augmented Reality API and framework that is currently in Android, is coming to Chrome OS. While there is no indicator of when we will see ARCore in the platform, the fact that it is being weaved into it is critical as tablet form factors start coming to market.

ARCore, the Augmented Reality SDK that allows for Android phones to create AR experiences, looks set to be one of the many things that Google is going to be releasing at Mobile World Congress next week. According to an exclusive report in Variety, the Mountain View company will release the first version of ARCore to the public and it will work on Android Nougat and Oreo devices.

Google is set to make a major push to bring augmented reality technology (AR) to Android at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week, Variety has learned from sources familiar with the company’s plans. Central to these efforts will be the release of the company’s ARCore framework, which will allow third-party developers to bring AR apps to Android phones.

This is a significant step forward for the company’s AR plans as, to this point, ARCore has only been available on Google Pixel devices in a pre-release state.

Google’s Project Tango will be shut down on March 1, 2018 as the company turns their attention, and that of developers, to the software-only ARCore. The news came from the Project Tango Twitter account where the Google team behind it thanked developers for their work over the past three years on the hardware-software Augmented Reality solution.

We’re turning down support for Tango on March 1, 2018. Thank you to our incredible community of developers who made such progress with Tango over the last three years. We look forward to continuing the journey with you on ARCore. https://t.co/aYiSUkgyie

The news should not be shocking at this point for developers or consumers for that matter. Google has been clear over the course of 2017 that ARCore, which is now in Developer Preview 2, will be the company’s AR solution going forward. It has a lot of benefits including being hardware independent.